Eateries drink in fresh look of Quinpool Road

Darrel Fahey, site foreman on the ladder, and carpenter Troy Hunter work on building fronts on Quinpool Road on Wednesday. (INGRID BULMER/Staff)

Quinpool Road is getting its long-awaited free makeover, and local restaurants are banking on the fresh paint to help reverse the road’s typical summer slump.

“We think improving the walkability of Quinpool Road right now is integral to any business success on the road,” said Ben Young, the manager of Thai Ivory Cuisine’s Quinpool location.

The restaurant recently got a coat of brick-red paint as part of the Main Street Matters contest sponsored by Benjamin Moore & Co. The prize — custom restoration and paint work — went to independent businesses between Harvard Street and Monastery Lane.

Quinpool Road’s win was announced in August, but painting didn’t begin until this spring.

About half of Thai Ivory Cuisine’s restaurant’s customers are students, and their absence is felt when the spring semester ends, said Young.

“Today is a beautiful day,” he said Thursday. “On the whole street right now there are about 50 to 100 people (on foot).”

With parking difficult along Quinpool, pedestrian traffic is key to local shops, Young said. His staff find that new customers are often on foot and make impromptu decisions to stop in.

Aside from looking good, the new paint has inspired a new wave of promotions along the street, Young said.

“A lot of different businesses have been trying new things,” he said. “If you walk down Quinpool Road right now, you’ll see most businesses out there have a sandwich board out with a discount on it, trying to bring people in.”

The painting will be finished within the next week, and on the afternoon of June 21, the Quinpool Road Mainstreet District Association is holding a celebration and an official tour of the revamped properties.

The total value of the work is probably over $100,000, and there have been several other spinoff benefits, said Karla Nicholson, manager of the association.

Benjamin Moore offered Quinpool businesses outside the designated make-over zone a special paint discount, taking $10 off per gallon, up to 10 gallons.

Last year, the road association began offering a facade improvement grant of $1,000 in matching funds, but only one business applied: Trinity Jewellers. This year, there have been 10 applicants, said Nicholson.

“I think people are excited to see the make-over on the street and are excited to try to capitalize on it within their own business,” she said.

The association mentioned the makeover on its tourism fliers, to be distributed around the region, and when the Downtown Atlantic Conference brought business improvement district leaders to Dartmouth in May, the Quinpool association sponsored a lunch and tour for them.

The most dramatic change has been to the front of the Garden of Eat’n restaurant, said Darryl Fahey of Certa Pro Painters, who was hired to lead the painting work. On Wednesday, he was putting finishing touches on the building’s new slate-grey exterior.

Nearby, Phil’s Seafood had a three-tone pattern with cream, teal and red, which was picked intentionally to go with the restaurant’s menu, said Fahey.

“It comes from the ocean, so they kind of wanted to go with a boat, bluish, nautical kind of look,” he said.

The colour scheme was suggested by Benjamin Moore designers, said Phil’s seafood co-owner Kathy Perrin. The restaurant was already on the verge of doing an upgrade before the contest, she said.

At Garden of Eat’n, owner Ebby Gholami said he was buying new plants for the patio and was happy the painting would be done in time for the start of the World Cup, which he hoped would bring in diners.

“New season, new colour, new approach,” he said.

According to the road association, 30,000 cars travel along Quinpool Road every day.